Trials and tribulations

This is a comment from an anonymous that I found on a website. It's very inspiring, hence I want to put it here.

"The purpose of life is to worship Allah and work our way to Paradise, which He created us for. But Paradise is not cheap - however the harder the struggle the more beautiful the rewards.

Allah has given each of us something to struggle with, and in His Mercy He chose that struggle that we were most capable of.

No matter how hard it might be, remember that "Allah does not burden a soul with more than it can bear".

Everyone's struggle is unique. It could be in the form of kleptomania, physical or mental handicaps, obsessive compulsive disorder, being born in an extremely impoverished environment, being trapped in a war-stricken place like in Palestine or Myanmar or Afghanistan with your parents and siblings wounded and raped in front of your eyes and bombs exploding around you at all times, or being homosexual, or being straight but never getting a chance to marry the person you love, or being straight but just so obsessed with lust and desire that controlling oneself from adultery feels impossible, or straight but so physically handicapped that one can never have a relationship with anyone anyway.

Everyone in all of these situations could ask "If I am bound to sin or be miserable in this situation, why did Allah put me in it in the first place?" but the reality is that we can deal with it, and this is our test.

Allah alone knows that He chose this test for us over others, because maybe we wouldn't be able to deal with other tests. For example, one of the reasons Allah makes some people born in poverty is because He knows that had He given them riches, they may have abused their wealth. Or maybe He wanted to put them in that situation to develop the skills or patience to deal with other important things that they will be facing in life. The purpose of life is to see the beauty in everything despite all the odds, i.e. to worship Allah and attain Heaven.

The Prophet (SAW) said that when Allah loves someone, He puts them through difficulties - these difficulties are what give you opportunities to shine - to attain higher levels in Paradise, to come closer to Allah. If your preserverence was never put to the test, how would it come out?

You must be very special to Allah and very loved that He chose this constant test for you - how much of the time, how many moments do you feel the feelings you wish you didn't have? He's gifted you all these moments as a gift to show your abstinency, your patience, your faith and self-control.

There is a Hadith where a person who had never seen even one happiness in his life but had lived a life of complete misery, will be entered into Heaven. And when asked after a moment in Heaven if he had ever seen any sadness, the person will answer "Never".

The fact is that despite this constant test of self-control that you have, you need to look beyond this issue and see what you have to offer the world. Who knows, maybe Allah gave you this to prevent you from having a family, because you were meant for bigger things? You have a brain and talents and skills that maybe you could be using towards earning money for charitable causes, or raising an orphanage, or making important contributions to society that are difficult to do with the full-time responsibilities of a family.

Also - don't think your life is doomed to misery. You don't know how long you have to live. The Quran tells us that when we are raised again we will wonder if our life on earth was just a day long, or a part of a day.

Immerse yourself in the reality and short-lived nature of life, inshaAllah it'll help you cope. I'll pray for you too inshaAllah.

Love and prayers, anon"